I have been looking forward to this cake for a while. I love lemon curd and ladyfingers and the combination sounded so yummy.
I made the ladyfingers on Sunday before going to the farmer's market. It came together pretty easily. I made 1/2 recipe and it took me about 1/2 hour to prep and mix everything. They finished baking in 8 minutes, giving me just enough time to wash the dishes.
I love making ladyfingers because the smell coming out of the oven (just as it finished baking) is so good.
Back from the market, I cut the ladyfingers and lined the pan. Since I am making 1/3 recipe, I used 2 4 inch springform pan. I had enough ladyfingers to line the sides and bottom of the pan, leaving only a couple of them for snacks :).
Next, lemon curd. This recipe is a bit different than what I'm used to. There's no butter in the curd, and you cook it in a double boiler over simmering heat instead of straight in the pan. I used turbinado sugar this time, so the color is a bit darker.
Because this is such a small recipe, the curd cools down in 1/2 hour. It also helps that I spent 10 minutes setting up and taking photograph of it. We also have the AC blasting, making the kitchen pretty cool.
The whipped cream came together pretty fast too. Folded into the curd.
Then filled the pan.
I then realized that my filling is a bit too little. I checked my measurement again confirmed I did everything right. Then I realized I must not have trimmed enough of the ladyfingers.
Not wanting to fill all the gap with the meringue because then it would be way too sweet, I made a bit more whipped cream and used agar to stiffen it.
Agar is from seaweed and it works similar to gelatin, except you don't have to heat it up like you do gelatin. And it doesn't have the awful smell that gelatin has. I heard about it at Rose's forum and just started using it.
Topped with more whipped cream, into the freezer these two mini pan go, for 5 hours minimum or in my case, overnight.
This morning, while the broiler is preheating, I made the meringue. Nothing special to report as it came together pretty easily.
Rose said to bake for 1 minute. After 1 minute 30 seconds only the tips of the swirls were browning. Some were really brown so I took them out. I was hoping that they would be more brown but I didn't want to burn them.
They still turn out good I think.
Tasting impressions:
So good!!! This dessert is lemony goodness at its best. I'm not sure if that sentence makes sense but I don't know how else to describe it. I am completely smitten with this dessert!
Told you ... you would like it.. now I better hide this post from Tom or I see myself making ladyfingers in my future....
ReplyDeleteIt turned out beautiful! I didn't think I would like this dessert and totally did.
ReplyDeleteI loved this cake too. Don't you wish that all problems could be solved by adding more whipped cream?
ReplyDeleteThey are so cute! I love the smaller version of them! I don't think i've ever seen a springform pan that small. I can't wait to cut into it and try it!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a winner! Good to know about agar, one of my daughters is vegetarian and she avoids gelatin.
ReplyDeleteI thought about firing the meringue and topping with whipped cream, and I love that you did both! Your little cakes are, as always, so cute and yummy looking.
ReplyDeleteI can't decide which cake I like better, this one or the lemon meringue cake we made with the genoise layers and the lemon curd filling. Both are so intensely lemony!
Monica, I don't see anything wrong with making ladyfingers in the future. Have you made the tiramisu from the book yet? :)
ReplyDeleteMarie, it's so fun to solve problems with whipped cream!
Jane, check your local Michaels. They should have this pan (and they have 20% off all purchase this week).
Lois, I hope you can find agar in Poland. I got it from Asian grocery store.
ECL, I like this one better because they're less sweet. The meringue topping on the lemon meringue cake has more sugar and it was way to sweet for my taste.
What a lovely cake, Jenn. I love the peaks! So pretty. Even the lemon curd looks good (and that's coming from someone who doesn't like lemon curd!) :o) I love the whipped cream addition. Please please tell me exactly how you used the agar (you can email me). I bought lots of from an Asian store, tried it once, it was utter failure (the stuff thickened waaaaay too quick) and I never used it again.
ReplyDeleteBtw, have you ever tried using a torch on the meringue? You get nicer (more even) browning that way but it takes a little practice.
Hanaa, thank you! To use agar the formula is 1 tsp per cup of cream. You do not need to heat it up, just add it to the cream and whip it. I learn about it from a discussion at Rose's forum. Here's the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/3294/
Those cake are adorable! And you make them look relatively easy to make. I never thought to make my own ladyfingers - you have inspired me to try! And all that lemony goodness looks wonderful:)
ReplyDelete-Erin
Hi, Jenn!
ReplyDeleteI gotta tell you -- that last picture really speaks to my skin. What a perfect showing of the layers! I swear I can almost taste it -- and I swear becuase I can't taste it in reality (hehe)!
--ak